[DECtalk] Status of the archive

[Blake Roberts]

Tony,
I still make Dectalk files. I had not asked about uploading my new stuff
because I thought you didn't want people to upload stuff. That was the
impression I got reading the email written when you took over the Dectalk
Archive. Maybe I misunderstood. I stil make Dectalk stuff and am interested
in uploading some of it.
Blake 

-----Original Message-----
From: dectalk-bounces at bluegrasspals.com
[mailto:dectalk-bounces at bluegrasspals.com] On Behalf Of Tony Baechler
Sent: Wednesday, September 23, 2009 1:55 AM
To: dectalk at bluegrasspals.com
Subject: [DECtalk] Status of the archive

Hello all,

Please read this carefully.  Nothing has been decided yet.  I am seeking
input from the list before I do anything.  Your thoughts are appreciated.

To give a little history, the archive was first managed by Andre Louis.  
He abandoned it and it was taken over by Jayson Smith who still manages this
list.  Finally, I took it over from him because of bandwidth issues.  I've
noticed a decline in new files since Jayson took it over with only one or
two people regularly uploading.  Since I've taken it over, no mention has
ever been made of anyone wanting to upload anything.  Therefore, I'm
thinking that perhaps the archive has reached the end of its interest and
usefulness.  The main reason why I never bothered to set up ftp uploading is
because no one asked.  Likewise, I didn't set up rsync for the same reason.

Here are some things that I'm considering.  When I originally took it over,
I had great plans for it.  I wanted to go through every file and do some
reorganizing, such as by creator or author.  I wanted to move some of the
text files and software around.  As you can see, that didn't happen.  The
fact is that I really don't have time to deal with it anymore.  I have
severe health problems and am undergoing evaluation for a kidney transplant.
My kidney function is 25%.  I have way too much stress right now to give it
the time it deserves, especially if people start uploading again.  That's
why I've been quiet on the list and haven't asked people to upload.  Also,
something that I wasn't planning on was a lot of hardware problems.  The
machine it's on seems better now but was very unstable for months.  That's
why the archive would go down for days at a time.  That should be
permanently resolved now.

I would like to make something very clear.  I am not immediately closing the
archive.  Bandwidth isn't a problem for now.  I'm undecided what to do which
is why I'm asking for input.  If I don't hear anything, I'll probably retire
the archive in a couple weeks and eventually remove it.  
If someone else wants to take it over and can give it the time it deserves,
feel free to volunteer.  It still gets a lot of hits and will suck your
bandwidth without a limiter.  I guess I'm leaning towards closing it by the
end of the year, but for now it isn't going anywhere and nothing will change
immediately.

Finally, there's something else to consider.  That is that a lot of the
archive is either illegal or adult material.  I'm taking a big chance by
making it available for download.  So far it has been fine but that could
change without warning if my provider finds out.  It's low profile enough
that I'm not too worried, but keep that in mind if you want to take it over.
I'm putting myself and others living here at risk because we could lose our
Internet if I get caught.

In conclusion, I haven't done anything with it since I took it over from
Jayson and I have no immediate plans to change anything.  I'm looking for
input on what to do, but I'm thinking of closing the archive due to lack of
interest.  I can't really keep maintaining it and no one has asked to upload
anything.  Unless I hear otherwise, I'll probably close it by the end of the
year.

Tony Baechler, current DECTalk archive maintainer tony at baechler.net

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